Old Prison Street Cemetery Quest
Keene, New Hampshire
Easy
Historical
Trail
1:00
Bring: Compass, Pencil
To get there: From NH Rt. 101, turn north on Main St. and go .8 miles
to Keene’s Central Square. Go almost halfway around the roundabout,
and turn on Washington St. Go 1/4 mile, and the entrance to the
Washington Street Cemetery (formerly the Prison Street Yard) will be
on your right.
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Before you begin,
Let’s clue you in!
At each stop you make,
Some letters you must take.
Write them down here, as you are bidden,
And you will find where our treasure box is hidden.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
1A 8A 5B 3B 6B
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
6A 8B 7A 3A 2B
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
1B 4B 5A 4A 2A
Once these letters are filled in, go to the front gate. Walk towards the
flag pole. The treasure box will be at the spot these letters spell out!
Clues:
1. Here you stand, facing a gate
Placed by the Daughters and marked with a plate.
Notice tiny letters, turning round like a clock
Begin counting near “nine o’clock,” which is marked by a dot.
The 6th and 27th will help with your quest, (letters 1A and 1B)
____
____
1A
1B
Now march inward and leftward that would be best.
Pass the lilac by Fuller, stopping here to rest.
Within these walls adorned by 18 plaques
Nearly 100 people rest on their backs.
Our tombs were built around 1830
Framed by tunnels and stairs that lie deep and dirty.
It has been said in spring rain and thaw
Would float a femur, finger or jaw.
2. With your back to John Fuller, turn to the right,
Walk past the front gate, the wall is still in sight.
Turn left when you’re past the first row of stones,
Then find a grave with a skull, lots of teeth but no bones.
Poor John Johnson died with the change in weather,
From the month that he perished, take the 2nd and 3rd
letters. ____
____
2A
2B
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3. Now look to your left, under the cedar,
Walk to where the grass grows much greener.
Turn left again, take 6 six small steps,
The white stone on your right is what comes next.
From his first name, take the first letter; ____
____
Now from his last, the last, even better. 3A
3B
4. Turn 90 degrees from Abner and walk north to the path.
Turn right, & walk past the name-plate-less grave that’s endured
nature’s wrath.
Continue to stroll, on your left take a look,
The grave of a teacher and a stack of his books.
Of both granite and marble this stone was made,
Look how recently it has been laid.
Peek on the back and the story is told,
Of a body remembered at 145 years old.
He died in 1855 as you can see,
An instructor from the Keene Academy.
It’s not true that all educators are mean,
This sweet soul was the first principal in Keene.
Gather the last letter of his first name.
____
4A
th
Now find the 6 letter of the town he was born. _____
4B
5. Turn south towards a tree
And walk steps three.
Now east towards a flag
Until it’s time to fill your waterbag.
Back south again walk between these rows
And find a dark stone sitting between the Snows.
Why is this Osgood buried alone?
With Snows surrounding him on every headstone!
Nine siblings in his family, gee that’s a lot!
But why aren’t they buried here in the same plot?
The Osgoods cherished Zephaniah, a family name
When the first Zeph died they named the 2nd one the same.
John O’s brother S u l l i v a n sprung from the same seed
____ ____
5A
5B
The first two vowels of the underlined name are what you need.
6. John Osgood leans my way, but don’t worry
I’m found in a plot between Coolidge and Kingsbury.
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Beneath my carved flowers you’ll find my call;
The war I served in, but that’s not all.
Men died fighting for the symbol of my name,
But there’s not one of these placed before my stone just the
same.
Figure out the first letter of the war in which I served. _____
6A
Figure out the first letter in the abbreviation of my profession.___
6B
7. Turn left and go northwest,
At the base of the tree a lilac bush does nest.
Under its branches, as you may well have guessed,
On a dark stone lies a happy soul that does in heaven rest.
Find the 17th letter of the poem.
____ = 7A
8. From this little thicket green
Find Marsh, find Russell. Walk between.
Stay to the right of two stones broken
Pass Sophia dead before her first words spoken.
Look up now and spot good George R
Walk south ducking beneath boughs of a cedar.
Face east on the path, walk it middle or shoulder
Stop when you reach _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ chapter DAR boulder.
____ ____
8A
8B
Find the 3rd and 5th letters in the chapter name. 8A and 8B)
The plots here are from the Old Burying Ground
That was used by Keene when it was first found.
Their plots have been returned to the plow;
The ten stones left reside here now.
In 1904 the D.A.R. tried to right the wrong
And moved the surviving stones within these chains, so strong.
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